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Telling the Time is Child - Play with Flik Flak

For most of us, a glance at our watch is second nature when it comes to keeping our busy lives ticking along smoothly.

But can you remember when telling the time was a trial in itself?

Maybe you do, but nowadays, as part of its strategic push towards better numeracy, the Government’s has released suggested milestones for children being able to read a watch.

So how can you be sure your child is developing their time telling skill on time? And how can you help them to improve this vital skill?

The official guidelines are as follows, set out in terms of each child’s school year:

Reception class children should be beginning to read the time to the hour

Children in Year 1 (age 5-6) should be able to read the time to the hour or the half hour on analogue clocks

Year 2 children (age 6-7) should be able to read the time to the hour, half hour or quarter hour on analogue clocks

All well and good, you might think…

But research by leading children’s watch brand, Flik Flak, seems to indicate these targets are not being met. To help speed up the process, Flik Flak has developed a series of Top Tips for parents.

Flik Flak’s Top Time-Telling Tips

·        Use key events in the day to teach your child the importance of time ie; lunchtime, playtime and bedtime
·        Reward your child when they can tell the time with no prompting from an adult
·        Make time-telling fun by using games. ‘Stop the watch!’ and ‘What’s the time?‘ are online games specially developed by Flik Flak to help kids enjoy telling the time. See www.flikflak.com for further details.
·        Make telling the time a ‘cool’ pursuit by treating to your child to a stylish watch they’ll appreciate as a fun and useful accessory

Flik Flak watches are made by Swatch, a household name across the world renowned for excellence, reliability, style and affordability.

The Flik Flak range is based on a teaching concept developed by leading experts in child education and psychology. The dials are specially designed to make it quick and easy for children to get the hang of telling the time.

Flik and Flak are presented on the watches as two playful characters:

Flik, the "big brother", is the blue and white minute hand, rushing around and only taking five minutes to move from one number to the next.

Flak, meanwhile, is the "little sister", presented on the red hour hand, taking longer to move but helpfully pointing out the colour-coded numbers each hour.

Flik Flak watches also come with a cardboard clock that is an extremely effective teaching aid to help your child learn basic time telling skills.

Flik Flak collections are available in Swatch Stores, department stores and from selected retailers. Find out more by visiting www.flikflak.com or by calling the stockist on 0870 780 5965.

, the "big brother", is the blue and white minute hand, rushing around and only taking five minutes to move from one number to the next.